Grants from Lennon and Lozick foundations lift hopes for Rivergate project on the Cuyahoga

Kent State University Urban Design CollaborativeA rendering of Rivergate Park.

New grants from the Fred A. Lennon Charitable Trust and the Lozick Foundation have pushed the Cleveland Rowing Foundation $100,000 closer this year to the dream of establishing a public center for rowing, canoeing and kayaking on the Cuyahoga River. The foundation is negotiating a bridge loan with a bank to complete the $3 million deal to buy the former Commodore's Club Marina on Columbus Road peninsula in the Flats. A closing is planned for mid-September.

"We're confident we're going to get there," said Jon Adams, co-chairman of the Rivergate Fund. "In the last month we've just seen tremendous and widespread support for the project. "People are actually starting to get it. They see the potential for bringing thousands of people down to the river by opening up the river to public use. It's resonating."

The Lennon Trust made two grants worth $150,000 over the next two years, and the Lozick Foundation gave $25,000.

Because the Lennon grants are split over two years, the total amount applicable this year to a dollar-for-dollar matching grant announced previously by Peter B. Lewis is $75,000.

The Lennon gift of $75,000 for 2011 will require a separate dollar for dollar match.

The total impact of the Lennon and Lozick grants -- when completely matched -- will be $350,000.

Adams said that the owners of the Commodore's Club lowered the purchase price for the seven-acre property from $3.2 million to $3 million. The total raised so far is $2.1 million.

Adams said the rowing foundation expects another significant pledge before the closing, and also expects soon to qualify for a bridge loan to fill the gap.

The rowing foundation is planning a celebration around its annual Head of the Cuyahoga Regatta scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 18. It ought to be a memorable day for the foundation -- and for Cleveland.

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